Unmei no Tatsumaki
by Cielo8027
Summary: Two mysteries. A changed fate. And a destiny that could either destroy or save the whole world. No one could ever predict that two ninja's can change everything. They'd either side with Naruto, or be the key to his downfall.


Summary:

Au. Two mysteries. A changed fate. And a destiny that could either destroy or save the whole world. No one could ever predict that two ninja's can change everything. They'd either side with Naruto, or be the key to his downfall.

Please READ AND REVIEW.

Disclaimer: We do not own Naruto or anything from the said anime, although we own the OCs.

Chapter One: Arrival of the Catalysts

The winds were blowing from the south, some leaves moved in rhythm. Despite the chilly morning, the birds still rose early as any nirmal morning. They danced gracefully in the sunlit skies.

"_Sigh_... It's a great weather to travel. I'm in good luck, I guess. Hopefully, I'm gonna return back to the village safely." A man wearing a white robe with a hat exclaimed happily while pulling a cart filled with various goods.

Just as when he took another step, a couple of shurikens came launching to him. He immediately closed his eyes, hoping for the worst but thankfully, the shurikens narrowly missed him, allowing himself to break the seal given to him by the hokage for emergency purposes.

A few seconds later, several masked figures came into clearing. All of them held varying weapons.

"Give us everything you have, if you value your life." The largest man in the group demanded in a threatening tone.

The old man hesitated for a few moments, thinking of possible ways on how he could escape. However, the thief that intimidated him seemed to notice what he was trying to do.

"We won't hesitate on killing you if you even try to defy us. There's eleven of us and only one of you. Don't even think of it." The bandit said arrogantly.

Some of his men grunted in humour.

The cornered old man couldn't help but to sweat in panic. There was something very important with him and it wasn't his. He never expected that bandits were this close to his village. Nervously, he started to let go of his hold on his cart and carefully removed it's cover. He had no chance against them after all, he needed help desperately.

"I...I don't have anything valuable besides these expensive ramen ingredients. Surely you don't want anything like these?" The ramen store owner pleaded good-naturedly. He smiled at the thieves, but ended up flinching due to their lack of response.

"We don't care whatever is in there. Just move away from your stuff, and put your hands on your back!" The leader got impatient and snarled at the old man. "Boys, search him. Make sure he doesn't have anything up his sleeves."

Some of the masked bandits started rummaging through his bag. Two came to his side and checked his pockets. He tried his best not to stiffen. Wearily, he felt the small piece of paper hidden in his right sleeve. He prayed silently in his breath as he tore it into two pieces.

Somewhere, an alarmed Hokage called an emergency mission for chosen ninjas. Only the trusted few had been called...something about "securing the package".

"Boss! This old man has nothing more than useless goods. Cheap ones at that." One of the thieves shouted to the leader of their group.

"No kidding? We followed this bastard for an hour and that's all he got?" Another said in disbelief. All of them paused for a few moments before someone spoke up.

"Since we all came this far... Why don't we just take everything? We could survive for a few days from those merchandise and while we're at it, why don't we have some fun with the old hag?" Their boss said with a smirk on his face behind his mask. He's probably thinking about their upcoming heist.

"Eto... What do you mean by have fun with that old hag? I'm sorry but I'm saving my first for a cute blonde. If that's not possible, I'd like to have it with a girl at my age." The first thief that spoke declared with a shaky voice. He sounded half-uncertain and half-pleading.

"Why don't we just take the offer? Its not like we could pass the wonderful opportunity." Everyone remained still, even the said old hag. All anticipated on who shall speak next.

"Let's just pretend that we didn't hear that... But still, I never knew you were into that kind of thing." The bandits' leader said in monotone...

xXx

(_`s POV)

I was running through the forest towards Konahagakure and ended up sighting a pair of corpse, and based on their hitai, they're nin from Kaminarigakure. I heard that Konoha were expecting some nins from Kaminarigakure to stay at their village for some treaty.

They're forming bonds with one another by exchanging some of their nins. I hid their corpse under the ground and continued my own way.

Okay... I never expected that formulating a plan to infiltrate the Leaf could be this easy. All I just need to do is...

I immediately felt several presence a few meters before me so I hid up at the trees and concealed my own, observing them for a moment. Seeing eleven thieves ganging up an old merchant was not something I see too often, so I got curious.

"... while we're at it, why don't we have some fun with the old hag?" I heard someone said.

'So they're going to torture then kill the old man huh?' I was about to leave the scene when another spoke up.

"Eto... What do you mean by have fun with that old hag? I'm sorry but I'm saving my first for a cute blonde. If that's not possible, I'd like to have it with a girl at my age."

'This. Is. Shit . Are they thinking of raping an old man while they rob him. The hell is wrong with people this days. For goodness sake...'

And what I heard next, made me widen my eyes a little.

"Why don't we just take the offer? It's not like we could pass the wonderful opportunity."

I wished that the guy was just joking because if he isn't, I might massacre them all. Raping an old man? And they're both guys. How the hell did they even think of him of doing something despicable?

"Let's just pretend that we didn't hear that... But still, I never knew you were into that kind of thing." The man who's most likely their leader said.

"Now... Let's just go back to business." He continued while he drew his sword.

For the umpteenth time, I tried to continue my tracks while a hidden scroll at the sleeve of the old man caught my eye. I tried to get a better look at it when I realized that the man was from Konoha and the said village would receive something important any time around this week, therefore I came to the conclusion that the old man was to deliver the scroll to his Kage.

When I realized this, I came up with another plan that I could use on infiltration the village easier. It was a good alibi. Me helping the old man from Konoha and introducing myself as the exchange shinobi from Kaminarigakure. A perfect plan indeed. They wouldn't be able to doubt me since I'm good at acting.

Well... Back to the story, I saw their leader walked towards the merchant and kicked the defenceless old man, which resulted to the poor man to cough up some blood.

He then glared at his assailant and said, "Konoha would get you back for this."

The old man's weak but he got guts.

"And what would your nins do to us? They're not even here. There would be no evidence if we could shut you up." The thief said with confidence.

As he was about to take the head of the coughing man, I immediately took action. It's not like my plan would work if he's already gone.

When I landed on the ground, I felt a new presence right in front of me. I looked at where it was, and my eyes met lilac ones.

xXx

(_'s POV)

"I'm so hungry." I muttered as I hopped from tree to tree. It had been three days since I last ate a decent meal, which was in Suna. I've been living off from nothing but Ramen ever since, and I'm not really into convenience food like that. My black bag contained nothing edible, which was not at all surprising.

I passed by two corpses on my way too. Unfortunately, they didn't have any food with them. They were from Kaminarigakure, judging from the hitai-ate on their *ahem* 'dead' foreheads.

"Hnnnnn." I hummed as I speed away towards my next destination. "Simple stab wounds. Not interesting." I recalled. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Seeing dead people was pretty much common, for me anyways.

As I was looking for food around the forest, I sensed twelve presence approximately 10 km North away from me, and one from the South in high speed. They all seemed to be unaware of my presence, so I paid no mind. I just stayed away from the large group so I wouldn't have to end up fighting with an empty stomach.

For almost half an hour I found absolutely no signs of food. I thought that I might have to infiltrate Konohagakure starving to death. They might...pity me or something and let me into their small village.

The person that was behind me awhile ago had finally reached the location of the other twelve presence. I covered my presence when I got near 5 km, it seemed like the person from the South didn't knew the others. He/she just stayed up in a nearby tree, probably observing the other twelve. I had no other thing to do so I just stalked all of them, maybe they have food.

What I saw was this: Twelve thugs ganging up on an old man, and an observer on the opposite side of where I was. I couldn't blame the other guy, the scene was probably the most interesting thing I have ever seen in the outskirts of Konoha.

"...why don't we have some fun with the old hag?" The toughest-built thief said. Well, shit. I thought they were just going to rob him? Thugs in my generation were levelling up.

"Eto... What do you mean by have fun with that old hag? I'm sorry but I'm saving my first for a cute blonde. If that's not possible, I'd like to have it with a girl at my age." I was just about to leave to not waste a few minutes of my precious time, but then I heard that remark. Were they really that desperate to get laid? I mean, it's an old man for God's sake...an old one at that. They could at least upped their standards to teenage-age.

I leaned in closer from where I was, careful not to fall from the tree branch. I wouldn't want to be the center of attention to a group of deprived hormonal armed thieves. Once that I realized it, the other guy who was also watching decided to stay. From my view he was also a guy, although I couldn't see much since the leaves were hiding him.

I thought I already heard the worst until...

"Why don't we just take the offer? It's not like we could pass the wonderful opportunity." I literally felt my jaw drop on that remark. It was just...disgusting. They were all men. At first I thought it's just some kind of sick joke but then they were actually serious.

I think...I have to stop them from committing something that might scar me for life. Even if I leave the vicinity, I'll be able to sense whatever 'movement' they make. God it made me shudder. Due to my sensory capabilities, I'd still kinda see whatever course they take. Lol. 'course'...get it?

I kept my presence hidden until I jumped down from the tree I was in, no one noticed me at all, I'm an expert after all. I was just behind a two-feet bush on the left side of the thugs as I observed the events that unfold.

"Let's just pretend that we didn't hear that... But still, I never knew you were into that kind of thing." The leader said in a well-that-was-really-weird voice before continuing "Now... Let's just go back to business."

It has been awhile, and for some odd reason my hunger actually vanished. Maybe it was a sign that I need to help the poor old man...or simply a sign that I'm about to pass out.

I frowned right after I saw what the leader did to the old man. He kicked a defenseless man hard. The situation wasn't fair, nothing ever is.

"Konoha will get you back for this." I heard the old man said through a series of coughing up blood. Now, that was what got me interested. I wouldn't have cared at all if he was just some ordinary merchant. Helping him can help in infiltrating Konoha...not to mention the fact that there are rumours going around that Konoha has some useful jutsus in their storage. Plus, I've never been inside Konoha. I heard their anbu's were monsters.

Hmmmmmm... I just remembered that Kaminarigakure students are transferring to Konoha for a sign of 'peace', but I'm pretty sure they were the dead heads that I passed. I can pass up as one of them, and help the Konoha citizen for more points.

"Yosh!" I exclaimed in whisper before stretching my arms out. I stopped hiding my presence and came out from where I was hiding in. At the same time, the other observer came down from his tree. Well, the lucky man has two heroes.

My eyes met sapphire blue ones.

I smiled lopsidedly at him.

**It's showtime**.

xXx

(Normal POV)

Just before the poor man was about to get tortured, two teenagers shuuined in between the circle in which the thieves are gathered in.

Teuchi Ichiraku ,the said old man, crouched on the ground with his hands on his stomach. His clothes had a few specks of his blood on it. He expected another blow and prayed that the thief won't use his sharp sword, but none came.

"What the...who the hell are you kids?" The leader of the thugs exclaimed in a surprised tone. At what he said, Teuchi looked where his assailant was looking at. At first he thought the shinobi's of his village had finally arrived, but what he saw were two kids. It made him panic. It would break his heart to see innocent kids getting hurt because of him. Not to mention that they were probably around the age of his favourite yellow-haired customer.

The two said kids were two teenagers. The one on the right side was a male, approximately 4'5 feet, raven-haired and wearing a shocked expression on his face. His built was quite adequate, not too thin, not too fat. He's wearing a plain white shirt with a blue sleeveless hood and black pants. His attire also had a few pockets for a few scrolls and weapons. His eyes were sapphire blue, a bit widened as he stared at the other.

The other male, however, is the complete opposite. He had silver longish hair tied by chopsticks, a bit taller than the other but considerably lanky. He was wearing a slightly-oversized white jacket with a sleeveless black shirt underneath, and white knee-length shorts. On his back was a small black bag containing random things. All in all, he looked like a ghost in the forest, considering his skin was very pale.

The creepy thing was the fact that the lilac-eyed teen had an eerie smile on his face, while the other teen looked a bit shocked as if he had seen *ahem* a ghost. Even the robbers felt like they were about to witness something, for a few minutes everyone remained still and silent...

"What's up with you guys? Did you just see a ghost or what?" The lilac-eyed teen said in an amused tone. He smiled coyly at the other teen, who seemed to still wear his shocked expression.

A second later, the happy go lucky teen (the silver-haired one) met several shuriken and kunai launching at him with great precision. If he was any regular ninja, he would have been bleeding on the spot. He gave the one who attacked him, the other teenager, a worried smile.

"They DO think we're friends you know. It would be bad to our image if we fight in front of them. Plus, you could have just asked why I'm here." He said in a joking manner before adding "If you haven't noticed, I'm not the robber here."

"I don't care whether you're the robber or not. The fact that you just came out of nowhere is enough. You didn't have any presence since the beginning, you... creepy bastard." The raven haired teen stated.

"I'm not a creep! I'm a very friendly person. And it's not like I'm the only guy who showed up out of nowhere." The said 'creep' huffed in annoyance, and looked eye-to-eye with the other teen, and then smiled once again.

"My name is Arashi Hatori. Nice to meet all of you." Hatori, the silver-haired teen, introduced himself to everyone... particularly to the other teen who seemed to be 'uncomfortable' with his presence. His smile came back to place, only this time it's much wider, like a grin.

"And what are you doing here? I bet you're not with them. I can sense the difference in your capabilities from them, and I can say that you're stronger than any of them though you're weaker than me." The hooded teen gestured at the several bandits who's gaping at them.

"Tsk! Your over-confidence will get you killed some day. And I'm only here 'cause the old man looked like he needed some help, nothing else." Hatori replied with his arms crossed. He found the other teen incredibly annoying. Not only did the shorty called him a creep, he also called him weak.

"At least I know my own capabilities. And I can say that I'm far stronger than you, creepy head. Remember the name Ryukaze Kai because I have a feeling that we're going to change each there's fate." Kai said while twirling his kunai in a playful manner, before it was sighted at the forehead of the thief who got the guts to charge at him.

"H-how dare you attack one of my boys! Surrender now or else..." The leader of the group of thieves left the threat hanging, but none of the two teenagers looked scared.

"Ehhhhh? I didn't come here just to surrender to a bunch of petty thieves, I came here to..." Hatori gave the leader a smirk before vanishing out of thin air, only to appear right behind the two thieves near Teuchi.

"I came here to do this." Hatori finished, without missing a beat the two thieves in front of him plopped down on the ground like puppets. They didn't even saw it coming. None of the thieves saw the two needles in the neck of their two comrades. No one saw how he did it.

"You're not so bad as I thought... But can you do this?" Kai smirked and disappeared from their view and appeared next to him while three heads fell down majestically without any signs of using any weapon.

"I'm not going to do that for no reason at all, and I don't think boasting will get you anywhere since the old man passed out eons ago. Anyway, I'm pretty sure you didn't -"

"You think this is just a game?!" The thief leader suddenly interrupted. Both teenagers finally took notice of the existence of the so-called leader. With a booming voice the man continued, "Just because you managed to cut our number in half doesn't mean the two of you can wipe us off! We're going to find out those parlor tricks of yours."

All of the other thieves seemed to have recovered from their shock at witnessing what the two had done, thanks to their leader. They had shaken out of their stupor, and all drew their weapons bravely.

"Who's afraid now?" One of the masked thieves taunted before throwing one of the kunai's on his belt towards the two, who dodged it easily.

"And I thought the party would never start." Hatori jokingly said. For a brief moment, a ghost of a mad smile graced his face. None who could have seen it were sure though.

"Hey creepy head, aren't you really holding up to your title? That smirk on you face is too...too...freaky. Yeah, that's the right word. And anyway, shouldn't we finish this already? This is starting to bore me and I think the old man activated some sort of signal for the Konoha nins awhile ago..."

"Ehhh? You noticed that too? Tsk. Why don't you just finish them all while I try to heal the old man? No use saving him if he doesn't tell his friends that we weren't the robbers."

"Nah... It's too troublesome and besides I can take care of the old man, plus I can feel that you're seeking for their blood. Stop making that expression. It's starting to freak me out." Kai said while pointing at the teen whose smile just got a little wider.

"I can feel that we're just going to argue on which one of us is going to waste time on these poor soon to be worm food. So..." Hatori paused and turned towards the thieves with a grin, before continuing " Let's just pretend there were only six robbers, and all of you breathing blood bags were never here. Deal?"

Everyone present had gone still at what Hatori had proposed...and the fact that the teen looked so serious about it too.

"Don't fool with us you brats! We've outnumbered you, and van definitely kill you." Shouted the enraged thief, or thieves for that matter. Hatori, however, seemed unaffected with the rude refusal.

"C'mon? Who are you guys kidding? You guys are so weak I can finish all of you in a second." Hatori explained, but the thieves were having none of it. In fact, they attacked all at once.

"Oi, Oi! How come you're not attacking Kai-kun? He killed more of your friends than I did!" Hatori pointed at Kai as he effortlessly dodged the six different weapons aiming for the different parts of his body.

"... But that's their point, creepy head. They're clearly attacking you because of what you told them, which was bit idiotic on your part." The raven-haired said before he reappeared on a branch of a tree.

"Tsk. You're no fun, Kai-kun." Hatori huffed, but his smile never wavered. He just turned a slight bit so could be facing the leader, before raising his left hand and folding his fingers to resemble a gun. All the bandits stopped from attacking him, unaware that their enemy had disabled them from moving the minute they had stopped.

"Bang!" Hatori gunned the leader, stifling a laugh as he did so. It seemed to anger the leader more, thinking that the teen that gunned him was still joking about everything.

"Do you still think this is a game?" The leader growled. " You better star-" Before the so-called 'leader' finished what he had to say, his comrades dropped one by one...until only him remained.

It was evident that only one thief remained, and the other fiends laid on the ground. None of them looked harmed, and yet none of them were breathing.

"Looks like the bullet only shot the ones it wasn't aimed at...get it?" Hatori joked before breaking into fits of laughter while he was still surrounded by the dead bandits. He laughed as hard as the lone thief stared at him in shock. Clutching his stomach, he slowly forced himself to stop laughing at his own joke and returned to grinning instead.

"Oi Kai, aren't you supposed to heal the old man? The Konoha nins are on their way here in an alarming speed, they just got out of the gates. A few more minutes and they're gonna be here." Hatori remarked before he threw a kunai at the remaining thief, which precisely hit the man's forehead.

"Aren't you blind, creepy head? I've already taken care of him. He'll wake up in a few seconds, but what could I say? You're much insane than I thought." The other teen face-palmed after taking the thieves he had killed brutally into hiding.

"Matte..."Hatori said, seeing what Kai just did, "Aren't they going to wonder where all that blood came from? I mean, I'm pretty skinny and pale and I can pass up as throwing up blood but not _that _much." He pointed at the pool of blood on the grass.

"Can you give me a second and close your eyes? You wouldn't want to get caught in something I'm about to do." Kai randomly asked while grinning. It was the first time Hatori had seen the raven-haired teen grinning, so he complied. Unbeknownst to him, Kai had watched as the blood vanished into nothingness. No proof that it had been there remained.

"You can open your eyes now. You can't even try to guess what happened, so don't even try to think of it...creepy head." Kai said. The said 'creepy head' stuck his tongue out and gave the raven-haired teen a mocking face.

It was at that moment that Hatori remembered what he had to do, to make sure his plan will work. He walked and picked up the kunai stuck on the dead leader's forehead. It dripped with blood, but he didn't cared. One by one, he stabbed all the other thieves he had killed even though they were already dead. It was, of course, to make their death obvious. He took something from each of his victims too, but it was too small to be seen.

"Hnnnn... I know we just met but do me a favor and refrain from telling the on-coming ninjas what happened earlier. I need to get into Konoha for a reason, a good one. In return, I won't tell anything about you earlier, deal?" Hatori stopped for a second, giving Kai a somewhat serious smile while still holding the bloody kunai.

"Well, that works with me. I have some business in there too. We can disguise ourselves as the exchange nins from Kaminarigakure. I saw a pair of corpses from that village a while ago. We could do just that." Kai informed the silver-haired teen.

Right after Kai had said those words; he felt the other teen stiffen a little before relaxing again.

"Did you go near them?" Hatori asked, trying to look not-so-guilty about something.

"I buried them..." Kai responded and stared at Hatori before he continued in a serious tone, " You're not the one who did it, right?"

"O-of course not!" Hatori countered, slightly offended, " When I passed by them they were already dead! And not to mention they didn't have any food with them..." He said the last sentence in a whisper.

Kai stared at him for a good time and then said with venom, "You didn't just passed by, you tried to steal food from the dead? You're nuts. I can't imagine someone would actually do something that would disrespect the dead. You're the worst."

"I didn't tried! I failed." Hatori grumbled without dropping his smile. "What's it to you anyway? You're not into dead people are you?"

"I'm not into them but disrespecting them is another thing." Kai glared at Hatori, who folded his arms.

"Yeah right...says the guy who hid the bodies of the thieves he killed." The silver-haired teen flashed an even brighter smile.

"Killing the living and dishonouring the dead are two different things." Kai countered back before the old man stirred awake.

In a blink of an eye, Hatori swiftly got rid of the bloody kunai he was holding before the old man regained full consciousness.

"Neh , neh? Oyaji, can you you sit up?" Hatori rushed to the old man's side, helping the injured guy trying to sit up.

"The scroll! The scroll!" Teuchi, the old man, frantically searched for the object, unawarely avoiding the help Hatori had been offering him,

"Ano... Are you alright?" Kai said politely, suddenly appearing on the merchant's side, offering his right hand which was gladly accepted after realizing that the scroll was still in his possession.

"I'm fine." The old man's face broke into a relieved smile, kindness spreading through his wrinkled face. " Are you kids alright?" He then asked, looking at Hatori and Kai.

"We're both fine too. Does your stomach still hurt?" Hatori replied with an unwavering smile. He walked closer to the two other guys until he was standing next to Kai.

"Stomach? What do you mean by 'my stomach'? I'm perfectly fine." Teuchi gave the silver-haired teen a weird look.

"Ahhh. Kai-kun must have healed you well. The robbers did a number on you, which was why you passed out." Hatori helpfully explained.

" As if that's possible! It's only been awhile since I fell asleep. Fifteen minutes, the most." The old merchant chucked as he took a quick glance at his watch. It was as if the old man had amnesia, due to all the kicks he received.

"Kai-kun, help me out here will you? I'm not sure I can make him believe me, even with all the dead robbers around us." Hatori said, looking at Kai as he did so.

"Deal with it yourself, creep head. He'll remember it soon. Plus, it's too troublesome." Kai said cockily before walking away and sitting on a nearby tree branch.

"Yare yare~ I'm into conserving my energy too, you know? Not to mention I'm starvi-" Hatori paused, quickly moving away right when a green blur passed in front of him. It was so fast, grabbing the old merchant away before he could even finish whatever statement he was going to say.

It was the Konoha nins. There were exactly four of them, surrounding the old merchant like a barrier.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" One of the Konoha nins asked in a threatening tone. Hatori merely observed, drinking in the details of the person asking him. It was an older guy with silver-hair, a mask covering his mouth and a Konoha hitai-ate that also covered one of his eyes.

"My name is Arashi Hatori, and I was just helping that old man from the robbers that attacked him. I should be the one asking you who you are, and why you just grabbed Mr. Merchant out of the blue." Hatori answered without dropping his frozen smile. A few minutes ago, the smile on his face was quite normal... but facing the Konoha nins, it wasn't appropriate. No one was supposed to smile in front of threatening people.

"Is he telling the truth Teuchi-san?" The Konoha nin turned his head backwards, eying the said man.

"Why yes, Kakashi. I believe he was one of the two who had saved me from those brazen thieves." Teuchi Ichiraku responded, smiling kindly at Hatori.

"One of the two? Are you telling us that the kid in front of us has another friend?" The only female Konoha nin asked the old man. She had white bandages on some part of her body, and red lipstick plastered on her lips. Her black eyes sparkled with intelligence, while her long black hair was clearly a bonus point to the fact that she was very beautiful.

"Ara ara~ I'm with my team mate if you're going to ask me. Did you really thought I can beat all these thieves by myself?" Hatori interrupted innocently before grinning at the four serious ninja's in front of him.

"Oy, creepy head, since when did we became team mates? I only know that we're going to the same place to be academy students of Konoha but we're not a team for kami's sake. I refuse to even consider that." Kai said cooly as he jumped out of his hiding spot, all the present people quickly looked at him.

"Where the hell did that boy come from? I can feel that he's filled with fire of youth!" The weird Konoha nin wearing green spandex exclaimed with a pretty weird pose.

The tension that and built up came into an ice-breaking silence. With Kai and what he had said, everyone seemed to be suddenly put of words.

"Now what? Cat got your tongue?" _'Sigh' _"And here I thought shinobi's from Konoha were elites... What a letdown, being too shocked to talk just because they failed to sense an academy ninja that isn't even a genin." Kai shook his head.

"Not our fault kid. We weren't expecting you two to arrive today. Konoha owes Kaminarigakure for saving one of our citizens." The cigar-smoking Konoha nin spoke up for the first time. His tone was slightly joking but his expression tells otherwise.

"Matte, Asuna. We aren't sure yet whether they really are the students from Kaminarigakure." The silver-haired Konoha nin interrupted, speaking up again with a suspicious tone of voice. He had looked intently at both Kai and Hatori.

"I'm certain they can prove it." Asuma, the one smoking a cigarette, responded goodnaturedly before looking at Hatori and continuing " You wouldn't mind if you show us your hitai-ate, would you? It's for security purposes anyway."

Hatori's smile widened a mere fraction, amused by the fact that the one called 'Asuma' acted wiser than what his appearance says.

"Nah, I don't mind really." Hatori flashed a brighter grin before lifting up his white oversized jacket, revealing a hitai-ate with a lightning symbol loosely tied on his waist.

"Well, that confirms it. How about you?" Asuma then turned his attention to Kai, expecting the raven-haired teen to show his proof.

Kai lifted his right arm a little, just enough for the other nins to see his own hitai-ate. "Happy?" He asked lazily.

"I think that should prove it." Kurenai, the female one in their group said as she stood up in a normal stance which Asuma and Gai followed suit, leaving only the silver haired man on a defensive stance.

"Kakashi, my rival! You should lower your weapons now. The nins from Kaminarigakure who had such intensive burning fires of youth had already proven that they're from the lightning village!" The male who was wearing a green spandex gave his team mate a thumbs up, a wink, a stupid grin which reached his ears and a horrible genjutsu magically appeared at his back, making the people who saw him to choke.

"Yare yare ... Can someone please make that creature stop whatever it's doing? I think I'm going to go blind." Hatori said in a deadpanned tone, a little bit struggling yo keep his smile on his face.

"If ever I won't be able to sleep peacefully tonight, expect that I would return the favor." Kai grinned evilly as he looked at the said creature with eyes that glinted a satisfying promise.

"Worry not, my youthful learners!" Gai proclaimed as his teeth shined with the reflection of the sun. "I shall never do anything that might damage your burning passion!" He continued and ended with another disturbing pose that earned him a few sweat-drops.

"But seriously... Stop this horrible nightmare you muscle brain!" Kurenai's last straw "Now... Let's just go back to business." finally snapped, which led her to dart a few kunais at the irritating freak.

"I don't know if anyone of you care, but I am seriously starving. Does this business you're saying involves eating?" Hatori interrupted out of the blue, which caused him to earn a few stares. Grinning, he added, "I've been feeling numb for quite awhile, is that an indication that I'm about to pass out?"

"No you're not. You're just simply a gluttony and a picky eater. You've already eaten a while ago, creepy head." Kai said before anyone could possibly react to the other's remarks.

"Awhile ago?" Hatori asked sarcastically. "You mean two days ago? Gah...you make me remember all those times I was forced to eat that horrible food called Ramen. Anyway, do you have any kind-"

"Ramen. Is. Not. Horrible." Teuchi suddenly interrupted in an offended tone. He breathed in deeply, and said " As thanks, I'll let you eat in my shop to change your mind for free...unlimited." The old man continued in a much calmer and kinder tone.

"In fact, now that I've mentioned it, why won't all of you spend a bit of your time at my restaurant for lunch? I'll make that boy regret saying that Ramen is 'horrible' by the end of your stay." The old shop owner smiled at everyone, and it seemed to put off the guard of everyone on the site.

"I agree to that. We can report to the Hokage about the arrival of the students, and the situation that we came upon." Kurenai, the lovely lady, agreed as she eye-talked with Kakashi in a silent conversation.

"I'll only accept your offer if you'll promise me that creepy head would be at least three meters away from me. He's definitely getting into my nerves." Kai said as he rolled his eyes to the said creep.

"Don't worry about that. If you'd like I could make that five meters." The said Ramen cook suggested as he grinned.

"Don't take it to heart Oyaji. He meant three centimeters. Not meters. He's a pretty sweet kid like that." Hatori remarked as his grin got wider.

Ignoring what the silver haired teen said, the old man then asked. " Are you still in Kai-kun?"

"Only if the offer's still up." Kai said.

"Of course it is. If not, why would I bother?" Teuchi stated.

Hatori just stared at the occurrence. He couldn't believe the old man was acting so...ungrateful. He just saved his ass and yet...oh wait. He did insulted Ramen.

"We should report to the Hokage first, and bring these kids to him." Kakashi, who stayed silent the whole time, finally spoke up. At last, he lowered his guard and weapon.

"It's all set then. Shall we go?" Asuma said in a carefree tone. However, just when they were about to travel back to Konoha, they realized something they almost forgot.

"So who's going to care Teuchi-san' stuff?" Hatori asked in a deadpan tone while maintaining his smile. It was so obvious that he dodnt want to carry it either.

"Aha! I volunteer to carry it. After all, it's such a waste to not spend my energy after traveling for it!" Gai boomed, teeth shining "Goodbye my youthful friends! I shall challenge myself to a race, to Konoha!"

Right after Gai proclaimed the last sentence, he quickly ran towards the cart of the shop keeper and carried the whole thing on his back...with a blinding grin.

"Goodbye!" He said one last time before vanishing in the same directing they came from. He looked like he was havoc fun too, leaving the group staring at the direction which he disappeared to.

xXx

"So they are the nins from Kaminarigakure?" A man who was called the kage of the leaf village asked as he stood up from his chair.

"Aren't they a bit too late? They should've arrived yesterday." He continued, making the two teens to slightly stiffen before relaxing.

Kai bowed out of courtesy before he answered. " I'm Ryuukaze Kai and I apologize Hokage-sama. We just got to stay at the forest a day later because the cree- I mean Hatori's stomach acted up since he tried to eat some poisonous mushroom out in the open. I wished he just died at the moment but fate is against my will. I know that it's not a valid reason to be late but if you'd like us to be punished." He took a glance at the smiling sikver-haired teen and continued. "Feel free to take creepy head's life. No one would had a grudge against you if you do that, instead they would thank you for being considerate."

The Hokage stared at Kai for a minute before he cracked a smile on his old wrinkled face. Hatori, on the other hand, still kept his frozen smile in place.

"Oi , oi. I'm not the only one who wouldn't be missed. Unlike you, I'm nice to people. They won't miss you because of your bluntness. Plus, I thought those mushroom weren't poisonous because they weren't common at all back at home." Hatori grinned before turning his attention to the Hokage and bowing with respect, saying "I apologize sincerely Hokage-sama."

"No it's alright, I don't really mind." The old Hokage said.

"Hey creepy head, does this look weird?" Kai asked Hatori as he gave off a bright smile, making a few who were present in the room to blush a tiny bit.

The Hokage and pretty much everyone looked at the silver- haired teen. It was only the that they noticed how the smile plastered on his face never wavered, even when he was talking to the Hokage.

"Yeah, that's seriously weird." Hatori responded, his eyes glinting for mysterious reasons. "You should smile more often so people won't think of you as a mean little thing."

"Umm... Hokage-sama can I get the information I need for my may here? Please don't worry about the creep, he can just die for all I care." Kai ignored the teasing of the other.

"Sure Ryuukaze-kun, although I need to hand Arashi's too... It would be quite a problem if I forget about him." The Hokage chuckled.

They watched the respected Hokage shuffling his things on the table, trying to find the documents.

After a few seconds the old man kage exclaimed. "Finally! I thought it would take another minute. I need my secretary to arrange it." He said as he handed the scrolls to the " Kaminarigakure " students.

"Arigatou gozaimasu, Hokage-sama." The two nins said.

"Ano... Hokage-sama, Teuchi-san told us that he'll be expecting us together with the new academy nins at his place for some free unlimited ramen." Kakashi interrupted when he felt that the Kage was using the two new nins as an excuse to escape his work... Paper works.

"I see..." The old man sighed as he stared at the now empty room.

xXx

On their way to the shop, everyone remained silent. Only Hatori's humming kept the situation a bit less... tense.

Kurenai and Asuma had left earlier, excusing themselves saying that they had important matters to attend to before bidding thanks to the the shop owner who invited them... Leaving Hatori and Kai to the company of a silent Kakashi. Gai was already in the shop.

"Is it far?" Hatori suddenly asked as they followed Kakashi, who was reading some kind of book.

"... Just around the corner." Kakashi muttered through his mask. He seemed to be enjoying the book.

They remained walking, keeping their fair distance away from each other. Out of the three, Hatori was the only one of them who was smiling. Hatori kept on humming random tunes until they finally saw a small shop.

"This really is the best ramen ever!" A loud shout echoed from the store.

"What was that all about?" Kai suddenly asked the joining who was with them.

"Probably Naruto..." He muttered.

"Naruto? What's that" Hatori asked, clearly emphasizing the fact that he said 'what' and not 'who.

"You'll know when we get there." Kakashi the reappeared at the shop entrance which the two followed.

"I'm glad that you made it." Teuchie greeted as the three arrived.

"Awww... Are they the ones who saved you Tou-san?"A girl with silky brow hair asked as she served a new bowl of ramen to the blonde boy who was sitting on one of the chairs.

"Yes they are... The raven-haired is Ryuukaze Kai while the other one is Arashi Hatori." He introduced them.

"Hey! Is he the one who told you that Ramen is horrible? That ungrateful mustard who doesn't know how to appreciate the goodness of Ramen?" The noisy blonde male exclaimed indignantly.

"Watch your mouth Naruto, although I agree that he's ungrateful." The Ramen cook nodded.

"So what if I am?" Hatori replied, his smile turning a fraction wider.

"I smell trouble coming..." The brown girl smiled as she stared at the scene in front of him.

xXx

_Omake _

_(conversation of the authors)_

_Hatori: ..._

_Kai: Now what? Making me go through the trouble of helping in this fic. This better be good or..._

_Hatori: You sure have the guts to say that, when I was actually who did almost ALL the typing work! You ingrate! I demand sacrifice!_

_Kai: I'm still the one responsible for filling up the holes in the story... Passing the damn story to me when you got a mental block... Seriously? You're the one responsible for me not updating any of my fics._

_Hatori: Liar! You're just too lazy and you're using me as a reason! You were the one who insisted that we finish this chapter. -_-_

_Kai:Well who wouldn't? You just need to type a FEW sentences to finish this fic and you're already giving up! Telling me to finish typing it for your sake._

_Hatori: You bastard. That was because I was the one who typed MORE THAN HALF of the fic! You lazy unimportant, insignificant and...and...geez . I'm hungry. Are you hungry? I'm starving..._

_Kai: And now everyone, you could really see that the OC of The Willing Prisoner is truly a GLUTTON!_

_Hatori: I am not. I'm just craving lunch, lunch, lunch and lunch._

_Kai: And that's that... Minna-san please review... Thanks..._

Authors' Note:

This fanfic is a colab fic with The Willing Prisoner. If you don't know her, she's the one who's quite adamant on being on HIATUS. Anyway... We're expecting your reviews. Thanks… V(^_^)V


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